As the season has passed us by with two friendlies to go, the murmurs demanding a roster overhaul are getting louder and louder. So... how did our players even do this season?

(numerical ratings are just my subjective opinion of the season the player had - his form, his importance to the team and his presumed quality combine into a fairly unempirical numerical tidbit)

Manuel Neuer - A standout player. Little more we can demand of him these days. Perhaps a slight criticism is that his seemingly insane runs outside his box have been rarer in the second half of the season. Perhaps this can be chalked up to his possible fitness issues (he keeps having his foot worked on by physios). Nonetheless, a key cog this season, keeping us in games we perhaps did not deserve to stay in. 10/10

Pepe Reina - A bit of a disappointment that he wasn't used more. Or at least until the red card. Theoretically the perfect fit as Neuer's backup, but we have to admit, if Manu were out, the drop in quality would be enormous regardless of who we play in his stead. So we need to think about our backup goalie strategy here a bit. 4/10

Tom Starke - /10

Jerome Boateng - Truly Boatank. A glorious example of how much Pep can improve a player. As it emerged from Pep Confidential, he was shocked when he heard Boateng was a "self-taught" defender, and instantly started drilling him to become better. As a result, he's almost entirely cut out the brainfarts that were so common in his game before. A solid candidate for the title of "Best Centerback in the World" - if not right now, then certainly after another season of Pep's teachings. He has the ability to make one more step further for sure. 9/10

David Alaba - The chameleon of the team. I don't actually even remember whether or not he played a game at leftback or not this season, but boy was his use as a wide centerback in a three man line a sight to behold. His bombing runs forward from the centerback position created more havoc in opposition defenses than David Luiz ever could, but unfortunately this awe-inspiring tactical experiment was cut short by injury - and a reluctact acceptance of the fact that Alaba may just be an injury prone player. The kid is a huge part of Bayern's long-term as well as short-term plans, but all in all, this is a season he will not think of first when hanging his boots and looking back on his career. Looking at the stats, he had a solid season - 5 goals, 3 assists, always played when healthy, wasn't given a single card (!) yet... I'm sure this season will be overshadowed by his next one. 7/10

Dante - ooooh boy. A true victim of the Demichelis/van Buyten phenomena. A player that looks so solid in a very tight defensive system, but when asked to step out of his comfort zone... a horror show. This whole season I've cringed whenever Dante is in the spotlight, as his body language fills me with terror of an impending mistake or goof. Dante has been in the squad for 50 games this season, and played 38 of those. Next season the latter number needs to decline towards one that reflects his spectacular crash in form. 3/10

Medhi Benatia - A bit raw - we tend to forget that despite the age of 28 he actually doesn't have that much top level football under his belt. But he's still been a very solid acquisition, and his partnership with Boateng shows much promise. He wasn't the messiah some expected him to be considering a fairly inflated transfer fee and hype by the media, but a good addition to the squad that can only get better. 7/10

Holger Badstuber - Why oh why can't Holger catch a break? In stark contrast to Dante, whenever he's in possession, I know the team is safe and sound. Such an elegant player in possession, but cursed with injury issues... the lack of match practice also left him a bit short of his potential. At 26, his next few season will be make-or-break. If he stays injury-free, I am sure he will be the long-term partner to Boateng, but it's iffy... still, the man called the best left-footed defender in Germany by van Gaal and then some by Pep Guardiola deserves a full season in full pomp. 6/10

Javi Martinez - We should've known what this season was going to end up as Martinez was ruled out for a long, long time at the very start. It's impossible to rate him, but we know what the guy can do and he isn't really that much of an injury prone player. Have at it in 2016, Javi! -/10

Juan Bernat - A truly shrewd purchase. Considering fullbacks seem to be in such short supply, we're spoilt for choice as we have three of the top dozen fullbacks in the game. And no-one could've guessed that Bernat would be one of them. Completely injury-free as well as he was left untouched by this season's plague. His only real issue was his poor performance(s) in the Barcelona tie, but if I complain about a 22-year old we thought we were getting as a benchwarmer having a bit of difficulty containing Messi then I'm insane. 10/10

Rafinha - The unsong hero of the season has unfortunately fallen victim to those who call for Pep's head by criticizing the ongoing midfielder Lahm saga. A real professional that has adapted to a plethora of roles - whether he played as a lone wing-back, an overlapping fullback, and inverted wide defender or a wide centerback, he seemed to do it well and proper. He recieves less accolades than his more "sexy" teammates, perhaps a bit deservedly as he won't go down in history as a player dominating the football world, but he is a player that we must strive to keep at Bayern. 8/10

Philipp Lahm - Now we arrive at the point of contention in the Tactics Discussion thread. Whether or not he's better in midfield or fullback seems to be a bit of a moot discussion - the real issue is if the team benefits from him playing a specific position. A worrying sign is that he seems to be losing a bit of pace, which may end our discussion in a year or so. In any case Lahm has been a very important cog in this squad and the Kapitän was sorely missed when injured (yes, even the ever-reliable Lahm fell victim to this god-forsaken season). Suffered his small dips in form, but also was at the center of a few of our best performances. A superbly solid, if unspectacular season - which is what we can least expect of him. 8/10

Sebastian Rode - Ah yes, the Curious Case of Why Pep Didn't Play Rode Those Games. Rode is a superb player, but limited in what one can expect from him. He injects pace and energy into the midfield when subbed on, but the hopes that he could play rightback (and there were many at the start of the season) were brutally buried the few times he tried. Rode will not force himself to be a regular starter and some few people need to learn to accept that. But as a rotation player, which he was signed as, he is immense, and when we need to play the Freiburgs or Hamburgs (hah) of the league, he can contribute just as much as flying off the bench in the 70th minute. Often... our play, as dictated by our manager, needs a different option though. Blame Pep! I dare you to do it! 7/10

Xabi Alonso - And here we come to his counterpart. The man who we all want put in a retirement home. And even then he has bossed so, so many games for us this season. Considering he was signed as a stopgap solution after the departure of Kroos and injury of Martinez, he was been everything we dreamed of, but we cannot build a team around him and hope for a good future in the mid-term. He shows fatigue quicker than everyone else - whether or not this comes from being overplayed or just old is up for debate. A midfield general who is reaching his World War I after a few Japanese scares in Manchuria. 8/10

Bastian Schweinsteger - This is a paragraph I do not look forward to writing. Fantasti-Basti, our warrior of Brazil, has struggled with fitness this whole season. Yet he has also generally been more involved with scoring and assisting than our other central midfielders. But the simple fact of the matter is that I don't know what to do with him. Our midfield is becoming more and more congested with talents coming through the ranks and frankly, I somewhat see Schweini sitting in their way. At 30, he is only going to lose form from now on, and I'm on the fence about whether or not an amicable parting of ways is the best thing for all concerned. The man has always talked about how he wants to play abroad some day - maybe we could let him. But letting an icon go does not happen so easily. He will have another critical season coming up, and if it is like this one, I see him visiting Stoke on a cold tuesday more than he does now. 5/10

Thiago - A glorious talent that we missed for such a long part of the season. Our long-term future needs to be nbuilt around his man in midfield - making sure he stays injury-free is imperative. He played little but what we saw was amazing. Quite importantly, despite being a tad underwhelming against Barcelona, he was the man takin opponents on and Barca defenders we afraid. Don't ever be injured again! 8/10

Mario Götze - The enigma greater than Russia. Started off brightly and then dropped off to the point where his presence on the pitch actually seemed to be detrimental to the team. It is probably unfair to put so much pressure on such a young player, and there is every possibilty he'll win everyone back next season (as the chance of him being sold is near zero), but this time around... something just did not click at all and fingers have to point somewhere. 5/10

Mitchell Weiser - For a kid we all wrote off at the start of the season, he sure came back with a bang at the end of it. We have nothing to lose by offering him another contract, so by all means we should go for it. Still, he doesn't show concrete promise yet - right now he's yet another winger talent rather than an obvious successor to Robbery. 7/10

Franck Ribery - Ol' Fronck was a true menace whenever he stepped on the pitch, but he is a notch below the man who came close to the Ballon d'Or a little while ago. Considering his fitness issues, age and the reported lack of versatility in the eyes of Pep I think the King will soon be forced to abdicate. Such a mixed season, but I still want him fit whenever possible because quality is quality. 6/10

Arjen Robben - Carried the team when fit. His departure against Dortmund was the first in a series of kicks in the teeth. Whenever fit, he created danger all around him in what I would call his best season yet! The man ages like fine wine, and I'm hopeful he'll carry on in the same vein next season. But considering he missed the most important part of this one... 9/10

Thomas Müller - The consistent energizer bunny has once again had a superb season, claiming assists and goals left and right. The emerging telepathic understanding between him and Lewa shows so much promise. The only blight on a yet another fine season is his inability to provide explosive width to the team like Robbery manage to. Difficult to blame it on him though when he's so good at what he does. 9/10

Robert Lewandowski - And we got this guy on a free! He's the perfect Pep striker, excelling with his first touch and ability to control the ball in tight spaces, but also capable of dropping deep and creating play. Is not a finisher for the ages, but does really not even need to be. Luckily the infamously disloyal Pole can be kept at Bayern for a long time considering our financial resources. 9/10

Claudio Pizarro, Pierre-Emile Hojberg, Sinan Kurt, Xherdan Shaqiri and Gianluca Gaudino were inconsequential to the season and as such, not rated. I guess I could give a few bonus points to Shaqiri for ruining a few Inter attacks with his wayward shooting, but... eh.

The ideal team

--------Müller with gloves---------Müller--Müller--Müller--Müller---------Müller---------Müller-----------Müller----Müller----Müller-------------------Müller---------------

I would have given Lewa a 7 or an 8... OK it was his first season under a coach with a totally different mentality than klopp. Lahm 8! and Alonso 8 too... I would have given 6 to Lahm and 5 to Xabi... because he only performed for the 1st half of the season.

You should have also given a vote to the coach. Mine is 6 (the fact that we reached this point in the UCL with all those players missing enabled him 1 point more than what he really deserved)

Neuer: 10/10 a legend Reina: 7/10 has been solid whenever called upon except..ya we know!

Dante: 6/10 been decent for 75% of the games he was called upon..though most of them were not that hard..but not meant for top matches and high backline!Badstuber: 7/10 : -1 for frustrating us!Boateng: 9/10 : just 1 or 2 mistakes..else has been phenomenal.Benatia: 7.5/10 again : -1 for frustrating us..has been marvellous 80% of the time!will get better surely!Lahm: 8/10 : -1 for the second half's performance!Bernat: 9/10Alaba: 6.5/10 didn't play muchRafinha: 7/10 : Solid but not world class!

GoalkeepersNeuer: 8Has not been as good as we expect him to, but still brilliant.Reina: N/AReina will not be rated, which is a good thing for him because he only played 2 matches and got a red in one of them.In 50% of his games he got a red.DefendersBoateng: 8A good year for Boateng where he has started to really polish up his game.Benatia: 7A solid player who has struggled to really get into good form because of supensions and injuries. I expect he will be better next year.Dante: 6.5Actually hasn't had a bad year, but really struggled against top opponents, especially speedy ones. Badstuber: 6.5In the short time that Badstuber got to play, I think he was our best defender. Still, it seems obvious that he will never reach the heights his form promised because injuries will plague his entire career.Rafinha: 7.5A solid reliable player who did his job, he got a contract extension which shows the board thinks so too. Still he was torn to pieces by Ronaldo last year and by Neymar this year. He's not going to get any better and the players he goes up against will. It's time Lahm goes back here and we think about a long term solution.Bernat: 9For my money the best value player in Europe this year, so cheap, so reliable and he's still so young.Full of energy and enthusiasm, he'll go far with BayernAlaba: 5Good player, did well, got injured for a long time.Lahm: 6Good player, did well, got injured, not as good as he was before, but at least played.

MidfieldersSchweinsteiger: 7A decent season but he really could have done better.Alonso: 7Same as Schweini. It really is a shame that the two of them couldn't quite hit it off in the way so many had hoped.Rode: 7Excellent utility player- does as asked, when asked with no complaints. Wathc this space.

Attacking MidfieldGotze: 6Such a good player, clearly not in the right state of mind. We needed him this season and he was outshone by so many players. 9 goals is not enough.Still, he played and contributed when asked, albeit not spectacularly so.Weiser: 6Young, not enough playing time, lots of promise.One year loan to shore him up.Robben: 8So good, so fast, so injured at the time we needed him most.Ribery: 6More injured than not- I can't remember any significant contribution.With the greatetst of respect, it's time a replacement was brought in to take over the reins.Thiago: 7.5Wonderful to watch and a real boon to the team, but injured for so much of the season. I expect big things next season.

ForwardsMuller: 9Ever dependable, ever engaged, ever Bavarian.Lewandowski: 8After a really slow start, I'd have to say that he really started coming into his own. The injury situation which forced us to play so centrally really suited him and gave him a boost of confidence, if he can keep that going, we'll get what we need out of him all of next season.

Neuer: best goalkeeper/libero in the world. I'm waiting his first goal for Fc Bayern. Prediction: he will score with a curl shoot after dribbling 6 opponents. 9Reina: played nearly the same amount of matches as me, but worse. 5Dante: get the **** out of here. 4Benatia: the best is yet to come. 6Boateng: some negligences were highly paid in CL. 6,5Badstuber: should consider a pilgrimage to Lourdes. Unlucky. 6Rafinha: not our ace, still acceptable. 6,5Bernat: inexperienced but promising. That lost ball at Camp Nou still makes me very upset. 6,5Lahm: seems to be ready for an elephants' graveyard. Take a long, refreshing holiday. 5,5Alaba: We were rock n' roll when he was playing. Super dull ambientish new age when injured. 6,5Rode: in Italy we call this players soldatino. Limited, but devoted to the cause. 6Xabi Alonso: ended his stamina after the 123rd minute played for Bayern Munich. 5Thiago: very talented, has dirty tricks with the ball. Some Robben's genes in his Dna make him frail as a breadstick. 6,5Martinez: hardly waiting for this bath of blood to relase his killing spree on the field. unratedSchweinsteiger: He's still celebrating the WC. Wake up Basti, a year has passed! 5,5Gotze: dottor Mario (firts half of the season) & mister Gotze (second half of the season). 6-Ribery: an interesting presence in our infirmary's waiting room. "Sorry madam, is Frank home? Can he come out and play with us?" unratedRobben: best player in the world for two or three months. Then died. 7Gaudino: needs to be loaned and to eat more. 5,5Weiser: remembered me of Usami, Petersen, Karimi etc. And I cried. 4,5Muller: bavarian pride. The last one to give up. 7,5Lewandowski: missed a lot of easy goals, then scored beauties out of nothing. Find your interior peace. 7Pizarro: the real one or a template would have made no differences. 4

Since I consider the Meisterschale automatically won at the start of the season, I gave more importance to the CL campaign.

Last edited by Nihilism on Fri May 15, 2015 5:17 pm, edited 4 times in total.

I was going to berate some of the scores but coming to think of it there's justification as to injury and contribution time besides player performance. Very interesting summary. For once this week I was glad there was something long and useful to read in the forum.

I felt Muller's score was a tad high and weighted towards the end of the season but then again those are the games that count, right?

Great summary. I would only disagree slightly with a couple of scores but then again not by more than a fingertip.

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